Saturday Morning in a Coffee Shop
by VioletCrystals
Summary: Four girlfriends, two guys, two waitresses, and a coffee shop in the middle of Orange County, California. Just some fun teenage stuff. ZukoXKatara OCXOC Oneshot.


**Here's a one shot that I felt like writing because I was having one of those days when i just realize how incredibly STUPID teenagers are. So yeah, this is nothing special, just some random shiz.  
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**(BTW, this story has NOTHING to do with my other one, even though I do use the same names for Zuko's and Katara's friends)**

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The cars whizzed on through the busy streets of Orange County, California and business men and women hurried by on their cell phones carrying official looking briefcases as they hurried to their all-important-high paying jobs.

Groups of gossiping girlfriends met at the street corners of their leaders', streets, exchanged not-so-secret-but-still-cool hand shakes and started out on their fully scheduled day of shopping, gossiping, and hot boy scouting.

Groups of guys met at the steps of their leaders' houses, exchanged arm slides and fist bumps then started out their days of walking around down town, talking about the latest news on the block, and cute girl scouting.

Couples held hands and passed by both types of groups and smiled as they remembered the days when they were a part of the crews. All and all, it was a pretty normal day in the lovely streets of Orange County, California.

**...**

"This day is going by so slowly!" The girl dropped her head hopelessly onto the counter top.

"Stop complaining Peg, it's not like you've got anywhere else to be." The other girl sat on the counter top next to her and boredly filed her nails.

Peg sat up and blew a lock of hair out of her face. "Shut up! As a matter of fact I do have a life!"

"Psh, yeah, right. Bet you've got a hot date with MySpace waiting for you right now," the other girl said in a sarcastic monotonous voice.

Peg's mouth dropped open and she glared at the other girl angrily. "No! I have other stuff to do!"

Just then, the entrance to the coffee shop dinged a few times signaling a group of costumers entering.

Both girls turned and saw a group of four teenage girlfriends settling down in a booth chatting away at the latest gossip. "Yeah you do, like taking these girls' orders."

Peg made a face then tied on her black apron and picked up her pen and notepad.

**...**

"Man I'm tired!" Jin said dropping her shopping bags onto the floor under the table.

"Yeah there's nothing more tedious than two hours of nonstop shopping and boy fishing!" said Cleo sitting down next to her. "Though Katara didn't think any guy we pointed out was cute," she said as the girl with chocolate brown hair and big blue eyes slid into the booth across from them.

Katara smiled shyly. "Well, I guess I'm just not into boys now."

Lulu sat down next to her. "Why not? School's almost out it's like, total hot boy season!"

"They have a whole season?" Katara asked amused.

"Yeah! Didn't they have one where you came from?" Jin asked kicking her gently under the table.

"Salinas. And, no. We just..." she shrugged and bit her lip. "I dunno. Guys and girls just sorta found each other ya know?"

The other three girls looked at each other then back at her. "Nooo." They said in one confused voice.

Katara laughed. "I guess we're from two different worlds then."

"Not totally different!" Cleo said sitting up and grinning. "I mean, there _were_ boys in Salinas right?"

Katara laughed again. "Yes there were."

"Cute ones?"

"Very."

"Hey Katara," Lulu said nudging her. "You never told us; did you have a boyfriend before you moved here?"

Katara's smile faded slowly and her eyes grew distant as she dug up a long buried memory. She nodded slowly, a faint smile at her lips. "Yeah... I did."

"Really what was he like?" Lulu asked enthusiastically.

"He was tall. Long brown hair, always messy. Brown eyes. He was ... nice. In the beginning."

The girls all nodded as they tried to picture him in their minds. "Did you break up because you moved?" Jin asked.

Katara shook her head. "No."

"Then why?"

Katara sighed. "We just... we never saw eye to eye," her eyes snapped back to the here and now. "He wasn't the guy I thought he was."

Jin caught the tone in her voice. This wasn't something she was comfortable talking about; the boy must've hurt her. "So that store we passed by! Alteca's Shoes? Big sale! We should hit it up when we're done here!"

The other girls nodded and voiced their agreement then their conversation carried on to other things staying for the moment away from the topic of boys.

Then a waitress with black hair dyed pink at the ends came to take their orders.

**...**

"Oh man! I beat you're ass _again_! After you were talking all big and tough and everything I knew you were bluffing man! I knew it!" The brown haired boy bounced excitedly with his basketball around the other boy who rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, Jesse, you really shut me up." He didn't actually state the fact that he's let him win every game they've ever played just to let the younger boy feel better.

"Didn't I?!" Jesse said excitedly. He chattered away reliving every moment on the court and making small demonstrations and facial expressions to emphasis certain parts of the game. "Then I was like 'whoa!' and you were like, 'dang!' and I was like 'yea boi!' then I was like _pow!_ and then _swish!_ and I won!" he danced around with the basketball for another minute then he stopped suddenly in front of a coffee shop window with a foolish grin on his young face.

"'ey Zuko," he said hitting his friend in the stomach repeatedly with a limp hand.

"What Jesse?" Zuko said smacking the back of his head. Surprisingly the boy seemed not to have felt it.

"Suddenly I really want a couple shots of espresso," he said in a dazed voice. His mouth drooped open and Zuko looked at him confusedly then through the window to see where his sudden craving came from. In a booth there sat four girls drinking frappaccinos and talking and laughing. Zuko laughed and shook his head then closed Jesse's jaw.

"Well then come let's go," he said starting for the door.

"Wait Zuko!" Jesse ran in front of him. "We can't go in there I think one of them saw me staring at her she's gonna think I'm such a freak-,"

Zuko slapped him suddenly hard across the face.

"OW! What the f-?!"

"Get you're game face on man!" Zuko said disgustedly then shook his head when Jesse's face remained confused and surprised. He sighed. "Just do what I do. You may beat me on the court, but I kill you in this field."

He walked around his still slightly confused friend and stepped out of the street into the coffee shop.

**...**

"Lulu," Cleo nudged her friend with her shoe under the table. "Was that guy just checking you out?"

"Huh?" Lulu turned around and saw a brown haired boy standing in the doorway with one of his hands in the pockets of his baggy blue jeans and the other holding a basketball. He looked around with a lost look on his face then his green eyes made contact with her violet ones and he nodded his chin in her direction with a bright smile on his face. Lulu smiled back and blushed then spun back around quickly. "Whoa! He is fine!"

"Oh my God he so wants to make your babies!" Cleo said leaning forward excitedly. "You should go talk to him!"

"No no don't do that!" Jin said leaning forward with Cleo. "If he wants you, _he'll_ come _here_!"

"But guys are intimidated when a girl is with a group of friends!"

"Yes but by coming here it shows he's got balls!"

"And me going over there shows that I've got confidence!"

The girls argued back and forth across the table in whispers and Katara smiled faintly with her hands folded in her lap. She was always amused when her friends freaked out over guys.

"Katara what do you think?" Lulu asked suddenly.

"Huh?" she asked surprised they would want her advice.

"What should I do? I really want to talk to him but-," she made a pleading expression and Katara looked at her sympathetically.

Lulu was prettiest girl Katara's ever seen, with exotically rare violet eyes, pearl white skin that never burned or darkened, oval shaped face, perfectly shaped pink lips, long straight black hair, small waist and shapely curves, she could have any guy she wanted. If only she had the confidence that usually comes with a girl of her status.

Katara sighed and smiled. "I think you want a refill." she said.

Lulu looked at her confused. "What?"

Katara nodded towards the counter where the boy was sitting on a stool next to the guy he walked in with. "I said," she took Lulu's frappaccino and dumped the rest of it into her own cup. "You want a refill." she smiled shrewdly and nudged her then Lulu jumped in realization.

"Right! I do want a refill!" She stood up and straightened her purple sweater over her black tee shirt and fixed her long loose black hair. "Do I look okay?" she asked nervously chewing on her bottom lip.

"No you've got something on your face," Cleo said.

"I do?" Lulu asked freaking out touching her face with her fingers.

"Yeah, a butt load of insecurity!" her friend replied. "Come on Lulu, you're getting a refill, that's it!"

Lulu nodded. "Okay, that's all," she picked up her cup and stuck the thumb of her other hand onto the pocket of her dark blue skinny jeans then walked towards the counter.

**...**

"Oh man she's coming over!" Jesse turned his face to Zuko and raised his eyebrow not sure of what to do. "Help me man!"

"You know I'd love to, but actually I've really gotta go to the bathroom, so see ya!" he dropped from the stool and patted his friend's shoulder. "Go get her man!" he said squeezing Jesse's shoulder making him flinch in pain.

"Zuko! Zuko don't you-,"

"Bye!" Zuko said grinning as he hurried into the bathrooms.

Jesse's eyes widened in frustration then he realized the girl was right next to him.

_Aw man!_

"Can I have another vanilla frappucciono please?" her voice was sweet, almost in a musical kind of way.

The waitress with the pink tipped hair nodded took her cup. "Same sized?"

"Yes please."

As the waitress busied herself the girl sat down on the stool next to him and he felt his heartbeat increase. _Say something man!_

She drummed her pale pink opal painted finger nails on the counter top and he turned and looked at her. He noticed that her face was even more beautiful up close, and just as he realized he was staring she looked at him and her pink lips turned upwards in a lovely smile.

"Hi," she said shyly.

He smiled back and lifted his hand in acknowledgment. _Say something you idiot._ "I'm Jesse." _Oh that's perfect!_

"Lulu," she said extending her small white hand. He looked at it for a second then took it quickly and shook it.

"Nice to meet you Lulu," he said smiling big and still shaking her hand vigorously. She cleared her throat and he looked at his hand still shaking hers.

"Oh! Sorry!" and he dropped her hand putting his back on the counter. _Why are you so stupid?_ "So, you come here often?"

Lulu shrugged. "Whenever I pass this way with my friends. It's nice, never crowned, great drinks." she smiled again and he smiled back his big grin. "You?"

"Me? Oh, um... yeah!" _liar_. "All the time! Actually today I was just playing some basketball with my friend Zuko-,"

"You play basketball?" she said curiously.

"Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "Yeah I love the game! You?"

"Yeah ever since I could walk I could play!"

"Really? So you think you're pretty good?"

Lulu looked taken aback. "Pretty good? _That_ would be a huge understatement!"

They both laughed and as their conversation continued their awkwardness disappeared and they were soon chatting away as if they'd known each other their whole lives.

**...**

"Hey they're doing pretty well it looks like," Jin said leaning her chin in her hands. The boy said something and Lulu laughed and pushed his shoulder playfully.

"Yeah... it's like love at first sight," Cleo said smiling dreamily.

Katara turned around towards the counter and smiled when she saw her friend looking so happy. "She sure doesn't look shy anymore." but then she was hit by a wave of jealousy. It wasn't that long ago since she'd been in Lulu's place. _Funny how things change so suddenly._

One minute, she was in the happiest phase of her life. Next, she has to leave her beloved Salinas right in the middle of the school year, all of her friends, and... well, she was glad to be leaving Jet behind. She was sure she would still be miserable with him. He was obsessed with power it seemed. He wanted her to be available to him 24/7 and if she wasn't, she was a slut. If she talked to any other guy, she was a whore. If she talked back or tried to defend herself, she was bitch. But he'd told her he loved her. Always after he was mean to her he was so nice and caring as if he was genuinely sorry. It was only after he started to physically abuse her that she knew she had to end it.

It had been hard. She thought he'd loved her. But she had to learn the hard way that love is not abuse and Jet was a monster.

She picked up her cup to take a drink but then it slipped in her hands and fell in her lap spilling all over her white pants. "Oh my Gosh! Oh my- no! no!" She slid out of the booth and grabbed and hand full of napkins blotting at the forming stain. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Whoa! Oh jeez Katara," Jin stood up and grabbed a shopping bag from under the table. "Hey I bought some jeans you wanna go to the bathroom-?"

"Yeah! I mean yes! Please!" Katara's legs trembled under her and Jin pulled out a pair of straight-legged blue jeans. Katara took them quickly and hurried towards the bathrooms. "Thanks Jin I owe you!" she called behind her shoulder.

Just as she was passing the boys bathroom, the door opened and a tall dark haired boy stepped out. She screamed in surprise and ran into him then fell backwards to the ground.

"Ouch! Sorry, my bad!" The boy bent down to help her up but Katara held out her hand quickly.

"No! Don't touch me!" she huffed and dropped her hand. "I'll probably jinx you."

When she didn't move the boy raised his eyebrow. "You gonna just lay there?"

She nodded sadly. "Yeah."

The boy stared at her then he chuckled slightly and knelt down next to her.

"The floor probably isn't the cleanest place to lie down," he said.

Katara looked at him. "I don't care."

**...**

Her face was hidden behind a cloak of dark brown hair but he saw the faint out lines of her facial features and he could tell she must be beautiful.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She seamed so sad.

"Nothing." she said, but he caught a trace of a whimper in her voice.

"That's the worst kind of wrong is nothing," he said.

She looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, usually when nothing's wrong, nothing's right. Right can't exist without wrong just like good can't exist without bad. So you're stuck in a paradox until something goes right."

"Well maybe I'm just the one that nothing right ever happens to."

"Or maybe you're so caught up in everything wrong that you can't see all the right around you."

"Maybe cuz there's too much wrong."

"Maybe you're not looking hard enough."

"Maybe I've given up."

Zuko shrugged. "Maybe you think you have. But maybe, somewhere, in there," he pointed to her chest where her heart was and she looked down there then back at him. "Somewhere deep down, deep, deep down, you haven't given up completely."

The girl looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "You're crazy."

"Hey, I'm not the one lying down on the floor of a coffee shop," he pointed out. She laughed then propped herself up on her elbows. Her hair fell slightly out of her face and he saw big cool blue eyes peaking through. For the first time since he was a scrawny little boy in seventh grade, Zuko was at a loss of words. This girl he could tell was different.

Her eyes captivated him and drew him to her like no girl ever has. It almost scared him. "I-," he cleared his throat. "I'm Zuko." he extended his hand.

**...**

His eyes were so... hot. Literally, it was as if God ran out of eye color so he used flames for this boy instead.

"Katara," she said taking his hand. She tried to take her eyes away from his but she found it impossible. They were mesmerizing like cat's eyes. Once they caught the gaze of their prey, the prey was helpless. That's what she was now, helplessly caught.

"You wanna get up now?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh! Yes." he pulled her up and put his hand on her shoulder to steady her. She flinched under his touch and blinked as if returning from a trance.

She pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled up at him. He was tall. Maybe six one or six two. She liked the way his dark hair fell in his face. She liked his smile and his voice. She liked the way his presence made her feel so secure and safe. Strange, she'd known him for about a minute and she already trusted him.

**...**

He knew he would go to the ends of the earth for this girl. Never had he ever seen eyes like hers. So deep and beautiful, perfectly blue, with no flecks of any other color at all. As if the pure blue sky was captured and put into her eyes. He liked it. He liked the way her hair fell all around her shoulders and her face. He liked the way she smiled up at him, so genuinely. He wanted to protect her and comfort her when she needed it. He wanted to keep her safe from whatever it was that had caused so much pain to appear in her eyes and he wanted to destroy anyone who ever threatened her.

He smiled back down at her.

**...**

_**A few minutes later...**_

Peg went into the back room and snatched the nail file out of the bored girl's hands. "Hey!!" the girl protested.

"Lynn, will you please get those two out of here?!" Peg yelled frustratedly.

"What are you talking about?" Lynn asked jumping down from the counter top trying to snatch her file back but Peg held it out of her reach.

"Go out there and see for yourself," Peg said crossing her arms and tapping her foot.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"Go!!" Peg screamed. Lynn jumped then hurried out the door into the lobby. "Oh gross!" she said disgustedly.

A girl with long straight black hair was sitting in a brunette boy's lap and the two were making out as if there was no tomorrow.

"That's it I'm taking my break," with that, Lynn picked up her coat and left the shop before Peg could come out and realize she was alone.

**...**

"Wow." Jin and Cleo said in one voice.

"Wonder what they were talking about." Jin said.

"We shouldn't stare," Cleo said turning her head away.

"_They_ shouldn't make out in the middle of a coffee shop!" Jin said.

"Good point."

They stared with puzzled expressions for a while longer then Jin checked her watch. "What's taking Katara?"

"I dunno I'll go check," Cleo got up and went to the bathroom area but then stopped when she saw Katara leaning against the wall with a tall dark boy leaning over her. She was giggling and the boy was talking to her in a soft voice and twirling his fingers through her hair. Cleo thought against interrupting and she went back to Jin.

"Katara found a boy in the bathroom," she said sliding back into the booth next to Jin.

"What?! Okay now I'm depressed!"

The two huffed then dropped their heads on the table.

"You know..." Jin started and Cleo looked at her. "There's still that shoe sale over at Alteca's."

"Psh! Better yet, there's a surf shop having a sale down the street and it is packed with hot guys!"

Jin looked at her with a demonic grin on her face. "Last one there gets last pick?"

After a second, the two stumbled out of the booth and out the door giggling and knocking into each other.

Later, Peg came out of the back room and screamed in frustration when she saw Jesse and Lulu still there making out... they paid her no heed.

Katara and Zuko stood in the bathroom hallway talking and laughing all the while falling further and further into that bottomless abyss called love.

And that's what happened that cool Saturday morning, in a little coffee shop, in Orange County, California.

So it was kind of pointless... but still a little sweet wouldn't you say? ;)

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**Yeah, you could tell I was bored can't you? But that doesn't mean you shouldn't review. :)  
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